Gorakhpur, May 29 -- : The bodies of three young girls who drowned while bathing in the Rapti River were recovered on Wednesday afternoon by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police. The drowning took place on Tuesday evening in Mirhiriya village, under the Campierganj police station area of Gorakhpur district. The victims have been identified as Arfeen,16, and Sabreen ,14, who were sisters, and their cousin Naziya,12,. All three were residents of the same village.

According to officials, four girls two sisters and their two cousins had gone to the riverbed to collect clay for plastering the walls of their house ahead of the Bakrid festival. After collecting the clay, they decided to take a bath in the river. However, th...